MADISON, NJ — One of the greatest plays ever written, King Lear , takes the stage of The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey beginning July 2 and continuing through July 27 th . Artistic director Bonnie J. Monte directs this epic production which has not been seen at the Shakespeare Theatre in nearly a decade. Performances are Tuesdays through Sundays at The Shakespeare Theatre's Main Stage, the F. M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Avenue in Madison. Tickets range from $29 to $53 depending on performance day and time and seat location. For tickets or more information, call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org. Patrons may also purchase Ticket Packages for additional discounts. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for group discounts.

Considered by many to be Shakespeare's greatest achievement, this towering masterpiece brings one of literature's greatest anti-heroes to life in a tale where fools and madmen lead the blind through a harrowing symbolic journey of epic proportions.

The production features television and theatre luminary Daniel Davis in the coveted title role of King Lear. Davis' 40-year career includes work in prestigious theatres across North America including The American Shakespeare Festival, The Stratford National Theatre of Canada, The Guthrie and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. On Broadway, Davis received a Tony Award nomination for Wrong Mountain and appeared in the revivals of La Cage Aux Folles and Amadeus . Other Broadway productions include The Frogs and The Invention of Love . He is perhaps most familiar to American audiences as Niles, the butler, on the hit television series The Nanny which he played for six seasons. He also played Professor Moriarty on Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Playing Lear's banished daughter Cordelia, who proves her love of her father is greater than words, is Shakespeare Theatre veteran Erin Partin . She has appeared in A Christmas Carol , The Cherry Orchard and Les Liaisons Dangereuses, among others, at The Shakespeare Theatre as well as in productions at Milwaukee Rep, and The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Kristie Dale Sanders plays Goneril and Victoria Mack plays Regan, Lear's less than perfect daughters. Sanders is in her fifth season with The Shakespeare Theatre and has appeared in Measure for Measure , The Rivals , Illyria and The Threepenny Opera . Her Broadway credits include Urinetown and The Sound of Music . Off-Broadway, she has appeared in Johnny Guitar , A Class Act and Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh .

Victoria Mack is in her sixth season at the Shakespeare Theatre where she has appeared in Pride and Prejudice , As You Like It , Pygmalion and Of Mice and Men, among many others.

The role of the nobleman Gloucester is played by Shakespeare Theatre veteran Edmond Genest , celebrating his 13 th season with this production. Genest most recently appeared in The Time of Your Life . Other Shakespeare Theatre credits include Pride and Prejudice , The Cherry Orchard and Life of Galileo , among many others. His numerous Broadway credits include The Elephant Man with Billy Crudup, A Few Good Men and The Real Thing . He has also appeared at numerous off-Broadway and regional theatres.

Marcus Dean Fuller returns to the Shakespeare Theatre after appearing as Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, to play Edmund, Gloucester's scheming son. Fuller has appeared with Milwaukee Shakespeare, Yale Repertory Theatre and Pasadena Shakespeare Theater among others. His television credits include General Hospital and the role of Dr. Steven Wallace on Guiding Light .

 

Kevin Isola returns to The Shakespeare Theatre to play Edgar, Gloucester's second son. Isola last appeared at the Theatre in As You Like It . His Broadway credits include Brooklyn Boy at Manhattan Theatre Club. Off-Broadway, he has appeared at Playwrights Horizons and the Public Theatre.

 

Ames Adamson takes the role of the Earl of Kent. Adamson is in his sixth season at The Shakespeare Theatre where he most recently appeared in A Christmas Carol and Henry V . Other company credits include King John , Love's Labour's Lost , Illyria and Merry Wives of Windsor . Other recent credits include the role of Bernard Shaw in Engaging Shaw at the New Jersey Repertory Company.

Shakespeare Theatre veteran Seamus Mulcahy returns to play Lear's jester, the Fool. Mulcahy's Shakespeare Theatre credits include Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol , Henry V and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead . He has also appeared at Paper Mill Playhouse and The Chautauqua Theatre Company.

Other Shakespeare Theatre veterans appearing in King Lear include Nathan Kaufman Matt Bradford Sullivan and Scott Whitehurst. Rounding out the cast are Fisher Neal, Derrick LeMont Sanders, Dan Lendzian, John Mulcahy, Nick Nappo, Craig Bazan, and Tyler Eglen.

Performances of King Lear begin July 2 and continue through July 27 th . Performances are Tuesdays through Sundays at The Shakespeare Theatre's Main Stage, the F. M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Avenue in Madison. Tickets range from $29 to $53 depending on performance day and time and seat location. For tickets or more information, call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.

About the Director

2008 marks director Bonnie J. Monte's eighteenth season as artistic director of The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Since 1990, she has directed 38 productions for the company, including A Christmas Carol, Henry V , Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night . Her many adaptations of classic works, including Enrico IV, The Cherry Orchard and Pride and Prejudice , have earned her critical acclaim. Later this season, Monte will direct Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire .

 

Special Performances

The first preview performance of King Lear , on Wednesday, July 2 at 7:30 p.m ., offers opportunities for reduced-price tickets as an incentive to first-time theatergoers as well as those who would otherwise not be able to afford a night at the theatre. As always, the first preview performance is Pay What You Wish night -- name your own admission price for that evening's 7:30 p.m. preview performance. Offer is subject to availability. Call the box office at 973-408-5600 for details.

For no more than the cost of a regular ticket, Symposium Series performances include the additional treat of a post-play discussion with the cast and artistic staff, on Tuesday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday July 12 at 2 p.m.

On Thursday, July 10, The Shakespeare Theatre presents the popular education program Know the Show . From 7:00 to 7:30 p.m., director Bonnie J. Monte will present a pre-performance talk that provides background information and an insider's perspective on Shakespeare's King Lear.

General admission to Know the Show is $5 for the general public, $4 for subscribers and ticket package holders. Tickets to that evening's 8 p.m. performance may be purchased separately for $42-$46. Single ticket prices include a $1.00 Facility fee not subject to discount.

 

The Artistic Staff

Creating the world of King Lear are set designer Marion Williams, costume designer Clint Ramos, lighting designer Steve Rosen and sound designer Karin Graybash. Broadway veteran Rick Sordelet will serve as fight director. Alison Cote is the production stage manager.

 

Tickets & General Information

Preview performances of King Lear are Wednesday July 2 at 7:30 pm and Thursday and Friday July 3 and 4 th at 8 p.m. Previews offer the thrill of seeing a work-in-progress before the show officially opens. Preview tickets are $29 to $33.

Additional performances are Tuesdays and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and Thursday through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. (excluding Opening Night at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 5); Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.; and Sundays, at 7:00 p.m.

Regular ticket prices range from $38 to $53 depending upon seating location and performance day and time. Single tickets prices include a $1 facility fee, not subject to discount. Groups of 10 or more save up to 25% off the regular ticket price.

Patrons can save up to 45% off regular ticket prices by purchasing discount Ticket Packages that allow ticket buyers to select five or four plays of their choice at discount prices. Ticket Packages also offer additional benefits such as discounts on additional

tickets and free and flexible ticket exchange privileges. Patrons may also select FlexPasses -- discounted vouchers that are redeemed for tickets during the season. Ticket packages start at $72 .

The 2008 season also includes Noel Coward's comedy Private Lives which begins performances on August 6 and runs through August 31. Coward's deliciously witty expose of “private lives” follows two couples from the shores of the French Riviera to a chic, Parisian pied-a-terre where the marital fireworks explode in a riotous display of verbal and physical comedy.

The Fall portion of the season begins with Tennessee William's tour de force A Streetcar Named Desire running September 10 through October 5. Williams' magnificent play of sensuality and fragility, cruelty and broken souls, has given the world the immortal Blanche du Bois, played in

this production by the dazzling star of Broadway and film, Laila Robins.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet begins performances on October 15 and continues to November 16. One of the most tragic and beautiful love stories ever penned – as wrenching a tale for old

as it is for young – it has been nearly a decade since its brilliant characters and poetry illuminated The Shakespeare Theatre stage.

The season concludes with Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale running December 3 through December 28 . The first of Shakespeare's great romances, The Winter's Tale provides a perfect holiday finale, for it is a play that celebrates the triumph of love, nobility and all things good, and ends with the promise of rejuvenation, redemption, and hope.

For more information about the season, to receive a free brochure, or to purchase tickets and ticket packages, call the box office at 973-0-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Main Stage , the 308-seat F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, is conveniently located in Madison at 36 Madison Avenue (Route 124) at Lancaster Road (on the Drew University campus), just minutes from routes 287, 78 and 10. Parking is free. The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre is barrier free with access into the theatre via a ramp and elevator access to all floors. Wheelchair seating and transfer seating is available. Braille and large print programs are available. Infrared listening devices are available free of charge. Some performances are audio described, captioned and sign-language interpreted. Contact the theatre for more information. For more information , or to purchase tickets, call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org

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The acclaimed Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is an independent, professional theatre company located on the Drew University campus. One of the leading Shakespeare theatres in the nation, serving 100,000 adults and children annually, it is New Jersey 's only professional theatre company dedicated solely to Shakespeare's canon and other world classics. Through its distinguished productions and education programs, the company strives to illuminate the universal and lasting relevance of the classics for contemporary audiences.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's programs are made possible, in part, by funding from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.  Additional major support is received from The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the F. M. Kirby Foundation, The Edward T. Cone Foundation, The Shubert Foundation and Drew University , as well as contributions from numerous corporations, foundations, government agencies and individuals.  American Airlines is the official airline of The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Crystal Rock Water is the company's official water provider. Barefoot Wine is the official wine provider. Rogue Ales and Spirits is the official beer and spirits provider for The Shakespeare Theatre. The 2008 Outdoor Stage production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) is sponsored by Bank of America.

 

General Information

  

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Bonnie J. Monte

 

MAIN STAGE:   OUTDOOR STAGE:

F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre   The Greek Theatre

36 Madison Ave. (at Lancaster Rd. )   2 Convent Road (at Convent Station)

Madison , NJ   Morris Township , NJ

(on the campus of Drew University )   (on the campus of the College of Saint Elizabeth )

 

TICKETS & INFO: Call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org

King Lear – Snapshot

Venue: F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Avenue at Lancaster Rd. in Madison
(on the campus of Drew University )

Performances: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 pm; Thursday – Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 7 pm; Saturday and Sundays at 2 pm. Call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org

Tickets : $29/$33 for Previews. Additional performances: $38 - $53 – Call the Box Office at 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org . Single ticket prices include a $1 facility fee, not subject to discount.

 

Previews: Wednesday July 2 (7:30 p.m.); Thursday and Friday, July 3 and 4 (8 p.m.)

Opening Night: Saturday, July 5 (7p.m.)

Symposium Performances: Tuesday, July 8 (7:30 p.m.); Saturday, July 12 (2p.m.)

Know the Show: Thursday, July 10 (7 p.m.)

Closing performance: Sunday, July 27(2 p.m.)

 

Performances:

 

Tuesdays: July 8, 15, 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesdays: July 2, 9, 16, 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays: July 3, 10, 17, 24 at 8 p.m.

Fridays: July 4, 11, 18, 25 at 8 p.m.

Saturdays: July 5 at 7 p.m.; July 12, 19, 26 at 8 p.m.

Sundays: July 6, 13, 20 at 7 p.m.

Saturdays: July 5, 12, 19, 26 at 2 p.m.

Sundays: June 6, 13, 20, 27 at 2 p.m.